Information brokers and technology use

Description

Despite the recent interest of managers, consultants, and scholars on how social networks contribute to the flow of information in organizations, there is little understanding about the positions of actors in these networks and their contribution to information flow. The aim of the study has been to identify actors who occupy central positions in the information network, referred to as the information brokers, and to determine the characteristics of these individuals in terms of their demographic attributes, use of information sources, social contact, and use of technology. A case study of a high-tech company was conducted and two groups within the company were compared: software development and client services. A multi-method data collection approach was employed that included a web-questionnaire, interviews, observations, and documentary sources. Although workers used human and documentary sources to the same extent, individual human sources were ranked among the most frequently used. Particularly, colleagues in the work group and organization were pivotal in providing advice. Furthermore, network analysis was used to identify individuals who were critical for the flow of information---information centrals. Individuals in the software development group were more likely to be information centrals. Generally, they obtained information faster than the client services group because members were connected to more actors and had stronger ties to these actors. Managers in the client services group were more likely to be information centrals and to play a role in the information flow both within and across groups. The influence of formal structure depended on the group structure, the tasks, and the cultural milieu. What distinguished information brokers in the client services group was the greater use of both human and documentary sources. All workers accessed sources primarily online. However, information brokers showed greater use of email and instant messaging for acquiring information within the group and organization. Although information centrals and peripherals socialized equally, centrals participated more in informal exchanges such as face-to-face encounters, technical discussions, and group meetings. The findings provide insights into the workings of high-tech companies and underscore the relevance of information brokers for information flow.

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